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A View From the Field |
October, 2010 October 31 I won't say Happy Halloween, because I don't believe in Halloween, but I will say Happy Reformation Day. October is history.
Have you ever had something appear long after you thought it was lost, and in exactly the place where it should have been? I had that happen twice last night.
I wanted to wear my pea coat today, since I knew it would be cold, and I wanted to wear one of my pretty, fuzzy scarves with it. When I unpacked that box, back in '07, I found one (I forget which) but not the other. One is shades of blue in a sort of mottled pattern, and the other one is dark burgundy red with gold eyelashes in it. Both are eyelash yarns, and I knitted them up on big needles in garter stitch, to let the yarn do the talking. So last night, before I took my bath, I got into the big basket in my bedroom and started going through the stuff there. I have more scarves and gloves than I could ever use, but there, in the basket, were both my scarves. One was at the bottom, which means it was on top of the box, and the other one was sort of mixed in with some other stuff, but I could swear it wasn't there when I unpacked. Anyway, I was glad to have them. The blue one has stretched long and narrow, and it needs some brushing up to look its best, but both of them are there. Sigh.
Then, I wanted a pair of gloves to wear, but I thought wool-lined ones would be too warm (I was wrong, as it turned out). When I washed outerwear last spring, I distinctly remember finding only one silk-lined glove in some pocket, and I remember wondering what could possibly have happened to the other one. The one I knew about was still in the laundry room, and when I lifted up a couple of other things, there was the other one, even though I had searched hard (I thought) when I first lost it. Weird, huh? But that happens, and it seems to happen more and more as I get older. Or maybe I just have more stuff.
I got to bed before 11:00, I think, but I didn't sleep really well, for no reason I could see. I was only up a couple of times, but there were some periods of weird dreams, which means I wasn't sleeping really deeply. I woke up around 6:45, and I just decided I wasn't going to get up then, even to pee, so the alarm woke me up at 7:30. Actually, it isn't the alarm. The radio came on, and it was playing a nice, quiet piano piece.
I petted the cat a bit and did some exercises, but I still seemed to be running late, so I went down to the basement and brought up some biscuit sandwiches, which I keep for just such a time.
I am really worried about Buster. He has hardly been eating anything. If this keeps up, I will have to unearth the cat carrier and take him to the vet. I know he is old, but until just a few days ago, he was eating well and seemed to feel pretty good. Oh, dear. This is that time of year.
Anyway, I ended up getting to church early, which was all right. It was a lovely, if long, service, with communion and a great deal of singing. The service used a lot of Martin Luther's hymns for the parts of the liturgy, so we sang and sang and sang. The choir from St. John's in Hubbell came up and sang. As is usual, there were only three men plus Pastor, but I think they would sound good, except that the organist played too loud, as she usually does. I suspect Pastor is also the choir director. As a matter of fact, with the exception of a couple more men, that choir is about the same size Christ the King has, and it is a very small church. Pastor had another good sermon, this one pointing out what we gained when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg.
It was a long service, and we didn't get out until 11:45 or later, but that was all right. I didn't see anybody looking at their watches.
Then I had to get gas, so it was nearly 1:00 before I got home. I put on my sweats and did the rest of my surfing and had something to eat. I have been hungry all day, unfortunately.
Then, around 3:00, I had a moment of terror - well, more than a moment, about an hour. I was doing a crossword puzzle, and all of a sudden, my keyboard inverted. That is, it was typing caps (and carriage return wasn't acting right in the puzzle), and when I pressed caps lock, not only did the light not come on, then I got lower case. Yie! So I tried to reboot (after I finished the crossword), and the computer came up in safe mode. Yie!! Nothing I could do would get it out of safe mode. I tried to do a GoBack, but that hung trying to copy sectors, so I had to uninstall it...and still I was in safe mode. When I tried to run some diagnostics, they said there was no mouse, even though I was using the mouse at the time, and when I looked at the device manager, it too said there was no mouse. So I unplugged the PS2 mouse and plugged it into a USB port, and still the system said there was no mouse (even though it worked just as well that way). Yie!!!
So I dug out the system restoration discs and after a couple of false tries, I got the basic DOS-based scandisk, and I ran that. I did not want to reinstall Windows, so after the install program checked the registry, I exited it and rebooted once more...and lo and behold, it came up, and everything seemed fine. Of course, I had to reinstall GoBack, and I haven't rebooted since, but I have had no more trouble since. Whew!
What in the world caused that, I have no clue whatsoever, but I hope it doesn't happen again. Charlie made a good suggestion the other night when he was here: he knows a place that sells refurbished computers, and he has gotten some for the PastyNet office that were incredibly cheap and seem to be working very well. But I have had so many other expenses this fall that I don't want to have to get into that yet. And the expenses aren't over yet: I get prepped for my crown on Wednesday.
Anyway, after that, I didn't do much. I finished reading one magazine and started another, and I read a bit of a story during dinner, but that's it. I didn't get to read up at the north end last night so I hope to do that tonight...and I want to find my black cat.
The weather was cloudy and cold, although there was a ray of sunshine occasionally, and some blue sky this afternoon. The temperature was right around 40º all day, although it is now dropping, and while it was windy overnight, it wasn't today. Kind of blah. It was a good day to be indoors.
This evening there were a whole bunch of birds at the feeders, and there were some slightly larger sparrow-like guys out there. I don't know what they all were, but at least one was a snow bunting. I have seen a lot of snow buntings over the past week or so, mostly in flocks of 10 or 12. Today on the way home, I actually ran into one. I don't think I damaged any, although at least one must have flown under the car. It's been a number of years since there have been many buntings, but they tend to be eruptive, and it looks like they are on the upswing. They peck at the gravel on the sides of the road, and when they take wing, they look mostly white, and they look like a bunch of white leaves swirling away.
On the way down to church this morning, I came down a hill on Cliff drive, not far from Seneca Lake, and there was a rather large deer standing right in the middle of my lane, crosswise, looking at me. I don't know if he thought I would turn around or stop or what, and while I did slow down, when he saw that I was coming, he bounded off to the left, not the direction I would have thought, since he had to turn completely around before he ran off. I guess that's why so many deer are hit - nobody can guess what they might do.
So that was my day, and I need to reboot the computer. Wish me luck. It's a cold, calm and mostly cloudy night in the field.
October 30 I was trying to read, but a bunch of stuff hung up and I had to reboot, so I guess I might as well do this and go up to the north end. I have to go to bed early tonight, and I have to refill the pill dispensers as well as my usual stuff.
I got to bed around 12:30 last night, although I'm not quite sure why it was so late. I slept pretty well, with only two wakeups, and I finally got up around 9:30. That should be enough sleep, but I've been needing ten hours lately, so I was a bit tired and groggy today.
I knitted and petted the cat, who is not feeling well, and is worrying me. He isn't eating much, and that's a worrisome sign. I know he has a hairball, and maybe that's what's bothering him. I hope so.
Otherwise I did nothing, again. I spent part of the afternoon reading one of the magazines I always read cover to cover - Piecework - and that was about all I did.
The weather started out cloudy and cool, but around noon the skies began to clear up and it was a lovely afternoon - cool, but pretty. The temperature was around 40º all afternoon, and there was a north wind, which has now risen to the 20-32 mph range. When I was out filling the bird feeders, it was just a mite chilly out there. Pretty, though.
I'm not sure exactly what happened to the computer this evening. I think the first thing that hung up was Norton's automatic update, which takes over the computer whenever it runs, but this one apparently went into a loop. It affected both IE and Outlook Express, which also hung up, and I finally had to hit the button to shut everything down. I always take a deep breath when I have to do that, since I once trashed the boot sector when I did it. Anyway, everything is OK now, and instead of reading on the computer, I think I will just go up to the north end and read there, as well as fill the pill dispensers.
It's a clear, cold night in the field, and the wind is picking up enough that it should be good sleeping
October 29 I wouldn't say I slept well last night, but I did sleep. There were a lot of dreams. I got to bed around 10:45, maybe, and I got up after 10:00, so I should have had enough sleep. The wind and the lake were singing, and that helped. I petted a cat and knitted a bit and I did all my exercises, so it was late when I finally had breakfast. While I was lying on my back swinging my legs around, I looked up and there in clear blue sky outside was the almost last quarter moon. It's always neat to see the moon in the daytime.
I had nothing in mind to do today, so that was what I did - nothing. After being out for most of the week, it felt good. I did go to the post office, where my box was stuffed so full of stuff I could hardly get it out, and I threw most of it away. The Christmas catalogs and pleas for money are starting. Sigh. After the talking, I read the last episode I have typed from the blue binder, and I finished it, which is why I'm so late.
There were four small checks from the organization that lost all of my money for me. Nothing excessive, but all donations are gratefully received. I didn't know they were still litigating that stuff, since it all happened 10 years ago. It also got me thinking about the notices I've gotten from other companies that have been sued by stockholders. All of them want you to prove you owned the stock, by providing cusip numbers and things like that. If the one company can know I owned their stock, how come the others can't? I think it's a scam to keep from having to pay. If I ever had that information, it was 10 years ago and it is long gone. So I will never be able to get what is due me.
The weather was still cold and windy, but at least the sun was out for most of the day. The high temperature was only 43º and the wind was gusting up to 25 mph or more. It was chilly. I got out the heavy fleece jacket, but I needed my hat and gloves, too. There was blue sky, though, and the whitecaps were on a blue harbor for most of the day. It clouded up late in the afternoon, and I guess some more rain is on the way, maybe with a little snow thrown in.
Well, it's time. I can remember a couple of Octobers when we had a number of inches of snow, although at this time of year, it's always wet and soggy and it usually melts. I'm with John Dee, though - it's better if we don't get any until after November 15, and then it sticks. We'll see how this year goes. At least we don't have an El Nino to deal with.
The days are down to just over 10 hours of daylight now, and the sun is only about 28º above the horizon at noon. We are quickly getting to the dark part of the year, and I hate to see it come. The setting sun hasn't quite exited the camera yet, but it's to the south of the thistle feeder, which means it will be gone soon.
So that was my quiet day, and I will be late to bed tonight. It's a dark, cold night in the field, but the wind has died down at last.
October 28 Well, last night was another one of those nights. I didn't get to bed until about 11:30, I think, and while I was all right when I laid down, very shortly afterward my left leg and hip started to bother me. I tried getting up and massaging the muscle and all that and nothing worked, so around 2:00, I took a Tylenol 3. I really don't want to have to start taking that very often, but it solved my problem. After it kicked in, I went to sleep, and I was only up once more all night long.
Another problem was that it was noisy! By the time I got to bed, the wind had shifted around to the north, and it was banging and slamming on the wall of the bedroom so loudly I could hardly hear the roaring of the lake. It was a hairy night. The wind was over 30 mph all night, and for a while it was over 35 mph. The peak gusts were around 5:00 this morning, at 47 mph. There was a little rain between 9:00 and midnight, but nothing since, at least here. A little more about that later.
I got up around 8:45, I think, and I petted a cat and did some of my exercises before I got dressed. I had time to do at least some of my surfing before I was off to town. My appointment today was at 1:00, and I was surprised to find that I had the same PTA, Wendy, whom I have been seeing. That was nice. She knows my case, so she knows what's going on. She seemed pleased by my progress. We did a solid hour of exercises, including a new one to strengthen the muscles in my upper back.
When I walked out of the Fitness Center, it was snowing! It was wet, slushy snow, and it stopped quickly, but still. Snow.
My next stop was the clinic, where I got my flu shot, and I was pleased that I was walking pretty well. I had decided to stop at Pat's, but I almost didn't because it was so cold and windy, but I did, and the few things I wanted to get turned into over $100 of stuff. Sigh. That is the reason that, in general, I try not to shop more than once a month. Of course, there was some wine in there, but still.
I got home right about 4:00, and then I had to bring in what I bought and put it away. I got a sandwich and some pasta salads (of course!), so I had an early dinner.
The weather was nasty, even though there wasn't much rain or snow. The temperature was right around 40º, and while the winds did die down a bit, they were still in the 30-45 mph range, which put the wind chill down below 30º. I guess it's time to get out the heavy fleece jacket and especially the hat and gloves. It was cold!
When I got home, I finished my surfing and listened to the talking. I will be soooo happy when next Tuesday is over, just to get over all that stuff. After that, I read for a while, and I'm going to go up to the north end and crash and hope my leg doesn't keep me awake again tonight.
Now it's a dark, cloudy, cold night in the field and the wind is still gusting to over 30 mph, so the lake is singing.
October 27 I hope nobody was too disturbed that the journal didn't get published until this morning. The power didn't come back until sometime in the middle of the night. I thought it was about 3:00, because that was when UPPCO called, but my neighbors tell me it was more like 2:00. Anyway, I was sound asleep at the time.
I got to bed around 10:45, I think, and I slept quite well. It is still weird to look down the harbor and not see any lights. Even though it was so cloudy, it was quite light from the moon shining above the clouds. It was also raining, and I could tell that by how fuzzy the view down the harbor was.
I got a call from UPPCO around 3:15. I was awake, as is still usual when the phone is about to ring. I took a walk and went right back to sleep. I got up around 8:00, because I had a 10:00 meeting. I did my exercises and ate my breakfast and uploaded the journal (thanks, Cheryl for reminding me I needed to do that), and then I was off to my advertising committee meeting, which turned out to take longer than I thought. We do more work in the winter than we do in the summer.
I got home around 12:30 and had a little more to eat and did my surfing. What I had planned to do didn't get done, because my surfing takes so long.
The weather was nasty. It rained lightly all night long and until 2:00 this afternoon, although the total wasn't very much. The temperature dropped off all night long and finally settled around 40º. The wind actually peaked between 5:00 and 6:00 this morning, with gusts at 42 mph. It has been dropping off since, but I don't believe the readings for the past few hours. The NWS station is sheltered on the west, and the winds have been from there. I was outside around 6:30 this evening, and believe me, it was stronger than 8 mph with gusts to 16. More like 16 mph with gusts to 24 mph - or higher. Anyway, they've extended the high wind warning to 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. We'll see what happens.
Actually, that sunny period we had yesterday afternoon was another lull, and there may well be another wave of wind behind this one, as the low moves off and the wind shifts around to the northwest. Oh, I hope so! I do love it when the lake is roaring and the wind is slamming up against the corner of the bedroom!
The reason I was outdoors was that Charlie stopped by around 6:15 to check my client. Evidently they are upgrading all the clients, and he wanted to see what I had. I guess Mike is supposed to swap it out next week. Not that it is so bad, but there is a newer model that will work better for me and which has a pass-thru port, which should be able to give the park headquarters broadband, too. So we had a nice conversation. Sometimes Charlie frustrates me, but he is a really nice guy, and I enjoy talking to him. Of course, he eats and breathes the network, but I like to hear what's going on with them. He also let drop a few interesting tidbits about the com business in general that may be advantageous to those of us out in the boonies.
Anyway, when we were outside looking at my client, it was not nice out there, cold and raw and maybe spritzing drizzle.
If they replace my client, they may move it down a few inches, so that I can see the lights but the unit won't stick up quite as far in the air and won't be nearly as obvious from the camera. That would be nice. I don't mind the smiley face after dark, but during the day it does obscure some of the water that it would be nice to see. I suppose I should experiment with raising the camera, but in the wintertime, I want to be able to capture the deck, so you can see the snow piling up.
So that was my quiet day, and I won't be up late tonight, I hope. I will read a bit, because I like to do that, but I don't think it will be too long. It's another dark, cloudy night in the field, and the storm isn't completely over with yet, or at least they say it isn't.
October 26 I'll write this tonight, but it won't get published until tomorrow.
It was about 10:30 when I turned out the light, but by 12:30 or so it was clear that I was going to have a problem. My left leg was extremely sore, and besides that, I was dribbling off every hour or so, and I'd forgotten to take my neurontin and my feet hurt. So at 1:30, I think, I took my neurontin, two Imodiums and and a Tylenol-3. It took a little while for the Tylenol to kick in, but after that, I was only up once more overnight.
I do not know what caused my leg to be so sore. I hadn't done anything unusual, but it hurt all day and it was really bad when I laid down. Maybe tonight will be better.
I got up around 9:30, I think, and I petted the cat and knitted a while before I got dressed. I had time to do some of my morning surfing before the power went, and I left around 1:00.
My PT appointment was good, and they are working on manipulating my shoulders, which I'm sure should help them. We had some conversation, because I had called the doctor's office twice and not gotten a call back, but finally, late this afternoon, I got some answers, and my continued PT should be authorized tomorrow. That's a relief. And Thursday when I'm down there, I should be able to stop and get my flu shot.
The real story of the day was the weather, but I can't give too many details because of the power. When I got up this morning, the wind was battering the south and east sides of the house and it was raining. It wasn't cold, but before I left, there were 37 mph gusts from the south. Needless to say, it was dark and dreary. It poured rain all the way to Laurium, and I was glad I had started a bit early, since it was nasty out there, and I ran across a couple of people who were so timid they were going 15 mph under the speed limit. The guy on the covered road pulled over, and I was able to pass the other one.
Oh, the power. It bounced several times between 12:00 and 12:30, then it went off altogether. If it wasn't for the generator, I couldn't have gotten out of the garage. It was OK in Laurium, though, and I passed an UPPCO truck with a guy on a cherry picker at Phoenix. It was up when I got home.
It was also nearly clear and sunny when I got home. The sun came out while I was having my PT, and there were interesting bands of clouds and sunshine all the way home, but no rain. Around 5:30 it clouded up again, and the wind began to howl, still from the south, and around 7:00, I think, the power went down again, and it still is.
There was some kind of glitch in the Internet connectivity in the meantime, and for some time, I could get to PastyNet but no further, and while the NWS station sort of came up, it wasn't reporting temperature. So all I can say is that the high was around 57º, and when it wasn't raining it was really nice out, in spite of the wind.
So now I am on generator power, and it's a dark, windy night in the field. The temperature is supposed to plummet, and they are even saying there might be a little snow mixed in with the rain tomorrow morning. So far the wind hasn't been quite as strong as it was down in Illinois and Wisconsin, but we are having our usual power problems.
Oh, darn. Before I forget it again, I need to write down what I saw on my way home from Johanna's yesterday. When I came up toward my driveway, there were three grouse in the middle of the road. Two were females, but there was one male, and he was displaying, fanning out his tail feathers like a little turkey. What was even more interesting to me was that he had another fan of feathers around his neck, which he was holding up in the air, so he had two fans. By rolling forward slowly, I managed to get them off the road (grouse are really stupid), but I watched the male go into the woods, chasing after the female, and the fan around his neck was really that. I could see it bend over when he went under low-hanging twigs. Anyway, even though I was sure it was a ruffed grouse, I looked at all my bird books (and I have lots) and nowhere could I find a picture of a grouse of any kind with the kind of neck fan this guy had. A couple referenced a "ruff", but they seemed to indicate it was more like a bunch of fluffy feathers. I haven't searched the Internet for it, and I don't think this guy was unique, so I'm a bit puzzled. Anyway, he was an interesting sight, especially since I didn't think they were mating at this time of year. The books seemed to think they did that in the spring. So the whole thing was rather puzzling, but interesting.
Now it's a dark and very windy night in the field, and it's time to trudge up to the north end and sleep.
October 25 Okay, I'll write this first tonight, and hope I don't read too long.
I crashed last night. I was in bed by 9:30, and I slept. I was up twice, and I finally got up about 8:45. I felt like I could have kept on sleeping, but I had to get up. I petted the cat a bit and did my exercises. Jasmine was getting her exercise, too, rushing up and down the hall. I don't know why she was so energetic. Certainly it wasn't the weather.
I was a little late for my appointment with Johanna, but she made up for it by giving me some exceptional treatment, including a long time working on my shoulders. They are a bit sore tonight, but not too bad, and I hope it will help with my mobility.
What did hurt was my left hip, and probably because I was favoring it, eventually my whole leg has been sore, which makes it hard to move. So I did not much except refill the bird feeders.
That was fun, because I went out when there were lots of chickadees around, and they mostly ignored me. In fact, one flew off the tube feeder as I took it down. I like it when I'm surrounded by the fluttering of little wings. There are still some bug eaters around, too, and at least one bounced off the screen on the east side of the studio. Somehow I think they've learned that it doesn't matter if they hit the screen, they'll just bounce off. Unfortunately, they seem to think that may be true of all windows, and of course it's not.
The problem of the day was the weather. It was already very foggy when I went to bed last night, and it was after 2:00 before it all went away. It was warm, though. The temperature was around 55º for several hours this afternoon. There was almost no wind at all. Of course it was dark and dull, but it wasn't at all bad to be out in.
Tomorrow should be interesting. We are going to have another gale, but this one is coming in from the southwest, and there will probably be rain with it. I'll be interested to see what happens.
So that was my day, and after I publish this, I will read for a little while (hopefully, not too long), and try to get another good night's sleep. It's a dark, cloudy and warm night in the field.
October 24 I think it was about 10:30 when I got to bed, and I slept well until about 2:00. After that, it turned into one of those nights, and I was up about every hour and a half for the rest of the night. I did get a couple of hours' worth before I got up at 7:15, but I didn't get enough sleep, and I'm tired. My problem was twofold - I was dribbling off, and my left hip and leg were sore. My left leg is still sore.
Anyway, I got up early enough to do a few of my exercises, and it helped some, but I have been very stiff and creaky all day, mostly due to the weather, I'm sure. I got to church early, but then I discovered that there were already people sitting in the sanctuary, so that was all right. Mary Ann and her husband, Bill, came, too, so that was nice.
Pastor has been preaching some wonderful sermons lately, full of Gospel. I know I know all that stuff, but it is good to hear it over and over again. Today's sermon was about prayer.
I got home around 12:30, I think, and I didn't do anything much but my surfing for the rest of the day. My joints ache too much. I had to reset the wireless client in the middle of the afternoon. I'm not sure what happened, but very abruptly it almost stopped transmitting and receiving. Power failing it fixed the problem, but I wish I knew what was wrong.
The weather was rather ugly. It was very dark and cloudy all day, with a temperature of about 50º and mostly light winds from the southeast. After 3:00, it started to dribble rain, and we've had about a quarter inch so far. No wonder my joints were aching, and Eleanor, the elderly lady I met last summer, said she was sure it was going to rain from the way her joints felt. Arthur(itis) knows. Anyway, it didn't rain until I got home, and after that I could ignore it, except that I might have refilled the bird feeders if it hadn't.
So that was a nice Sunday, and now I'm tired, even though it's early, and it's time to trudge up to the north end and put myself to bed. It's a dark, dank, rainy night in the field.
October 23 It was 12:30 before I got to bed last night. This has got to stop. I have some things to do next week that will mean getting up at a reasonably early time. I slept fairly well, and I got up at 10:30. When I was up around 4:00, the full moon was shining in the bedroom windows, so bright and pretty. There were a few clouds around, but not enough to cover the moon, at least when I was awake.
I decided to have the slow breakfast this morning - French toast - because it's been a very long time since I've had it, but that meant it was noon or later before I ate. Doing all my exercises is taking at least 45 minutes now, so I will have to factor that into my plans, or else do them in three sessions rather than two.
And I didn't do anything except my surfing and reading. I have finally figured out how to do the voting. I fired up the laptop and voted from it, while I did other things on the desktop. Evidently part of the reason it has been taking me quite so long to vote has been that I'm doing other things at the same time. I'm sure it's why I couldn't do it at all when I was away. The entire site is written mostly in Java, and that requires either a lot faster processor than either of mine or a dedicated computer. Since sitting and staring at an unchanging screen isn't my idea of fun, I'm glad I found a way to do it.
By the way, in case you've forgotten, the website is
http://www.refresheverything.com/copperharborambulancebarn?utm_source=em
We are mired in 13th place, as we have been for most of the month. The more I watch that site, the more I believe the whole thing is rigged, but I keep voting anyway, just in case. We will get rolled over to next month, but still. Something hokey is going on. Please vote anyway.
The weather wasn't so hot. It was sunny and pretty this morning, but a bit after noon the clouds moved in and it was very dark and gray all afternoon. The temperature got up to 50º for a couple of hours this afternoon, and there was a brisk wind - gusts up to 25 mph this morning and 18 mph this afternoon - from the east. There was no rain that I could see, but there is a big patch of it south of us. I don't know if we'll get any or not.
A cartoon that I look at (called Graffiti) had a cel a week or so ago that said something like "The best way to find something you've lost is to buy a new one." Boy, is that ever true! I think I mentioned that I had lost my 32" #1 needle, and after searching for it for some time, I sent for another one. That was all right, because I wanted another #2 anyway. So last night when I went into the bathroom, I saw something suspicious on the floor between the toilet and the wall and underneath a couple of things, and there, lo and behold, was my needle! I went to the post office today, and there were my new needles. So now I am well needled.
I was interested to see that the Christmas catalogs are starting to come in, as well as the Christmas pleas for money. I guess it's about time, but it gets old pretty fast. I threw out the pleas for money, but I am going to fetch them back out and start my end-of-year collection. I've also gotten a few phone calls, sadly enough. I know the charities have been hurting lately, but so am I. I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything for them this year, unfortunately. Things are bad all over. As for the catalogs, when I see all of that stuff, most of which I throw away, I can't help but think of all the trees.
I also got several bills, including a credit card bill that had half of my Detroit trip on it. I must try to reschedule next year so as to miss my cut-off date. This was a humungous one.
So that was my quiet day, and now it's time to get me up to the north end as soon as possible and get to bed. It's a dark, cloudy, cool night in the field.
October 22 I didn't get to bed until 12:15, but I slept exceptionally well, with only two wakeups. I didn't get up until 10:15, so I guess I'm going to get my 10 hours whenever. However, that meant I didn't get to do my surfing in the morning.
Since the wind had finally died down, I wanted to get the bird feeders out, and from the camera, I can tell they were used. In fact, a few minutes after I put them out, I heard the blue jays screeching, telling the whole neighborhood that there was food.
I was late leaving, so I was a few minutes late for my PT. Today was my evaluation, and my therapist agrees that I need more therapy, but we will have to organize it through the doctor. I need to call for my flu shot anyway, and I was supposed to do that when I got home, but I forgot.
Since I have been retired, I have come to regard weekends more as annoyances than anything else: two days when I can't do any business. Oh, well. We'll see what happens. Maybe I can remember to call on Monday after I see Johanna.
The weather was nicer than it has been for several days. The temperature briefly got up to 52º, and there was a lot less wind than there has been for several days. Sometimes it got up to 15 mph, and there were some 20 mph gusts, all from the west, but it wasn't like our gale. The skies were more clear than cloudy, and it was nice to see the sun for a change. I noticed that there was only 10½ hours of daylight today, and the sun is setting at the far south of the west bluff. Pretty soon it will be out of the camera for the next four months. Sigh.
My trip was a good one. There was no traffic going down and only a little coming back. I had to get gas, and the price has inexplicably dropped by about 12¢ a gallon in the past week. That was nice, since my tank was getting empty. It's still something of a shock to put $55 in gas in my car. Ugh!
When I got home, I did my surfing - and forgot to make my phone call - and this evening after the talking was over, I read for a while, on my favorite episode from the blue binder. Now it's quite late again, but I can just brush my teeth and crash.
Now it's a partly cloudy night in the field, and the full moon should be shining down on us.
October 21 It was about 10:45 when I got to bed last night, and it will be later tonight. I slept pretty well, except that I was up a lot. It seems to be one night on and one night off these days. I got up around 9:00, I think, about the time Buster was getting anxious, and I petted him and knitted a bit. While I was doing my exercises, he got up on the bed and started looking at me like I was weird. He just can't figure out what I'm doing waving my arms and legs around like that.
It turned out to be a nothing day. I got the dishwasher ready to run. It's not full, but I'm running out of forks (or at least the forks I like), so I might as well run it. And I washed the broiler pan. A lot of things are easier now that I'm not having such trouble with my back.
That may not be the reason for all the exercises, but it certainly is the best benefit I've gotten from them. I'm sometimes stiff when I get up in the morning, but doing my exercises gets the kinks out, and even if I stiffen up a bit later in the day, it's mostly in the legs, and my back is fine. It's a real relief, since it was a constant bother before I started my PT. I still have a long way to go to get where I want to be, but I see a little more progress every day.
The weather was just about like it was yesterday. When I thought about it, I realized we have been having a dry gale. There was a little rain elsewhere, but we didn't get any. All we had were cold temps and high winds. The temperature hovered around 40º all day, with the wind in the 28-35 mph range from the north, until about 5:00, when it died down some (16 mph) and the temperature rose to 46º. Now the wind is in the 20-30 mph range again. It's supposed to be warmer and less windy tomorrow. I hope so.
I read some this evening, with a cat on my lap most of the time. I have been listening to the music lately and enjoying it most of the time, and I think Buster likes it, too. What he still does not like is when I sneeze. I moved the blue binder out of the bathroom this morning, and it was so dusty in that corner that I had a sneezing fit, and he did not like that at all. Too bad about him. I've been sneezing like that since he was a bitty kitten, and he ought to be used to it by now.
I've had some conversation with a new efriend, and as a result, I have updated the "links" page to make it look better and bring it up to date. Most of the sites I occasionally talk about here are listed there.
So now it's time to toddle up to the north end and do a few more exercises. It's a cold, cloudy night in the field.
October 20 I guess I was reading, and that's why I was so late, and it was 11:45 before I got to bed. The wind was blowing and the lake was speaking quietly, and i slept well. It was partly to mostly cloudy all night, and I couldn't even see the moon. I got up around 9:45, and Buster was beginning to complain. I petted him and knitted a while, and Jasmine slept on the skirt of my robe. I did my exercises, and it was close to 11:00 before I got to the studio. Buster is getting disgusted by the time I spend doing my exercises.
My surfing seems to be taking longer every day, but a lot of that is because the Pepsi site is so slow. However, I actually did something! I finally - finally! - got most of the clothes put away. The ironing is still in the laundry room, as is some stuff that needs to be washed separately, but the washbaskets are empty, except for the one with the underwear, and I will put that away when I go up to the north end tonight. It's good to have that done. I had everything from shorts and tank tops to sweaters, and most of my long-sleeved polos.
Apparently the UPS guy came while I was in the laundry room, because when I went out to what I thought was an advertising committee meeting tonight, when I came back, my case of toilet paper was on the front porch. It seems the meeting had been canceled and nobody told me. Oh, well. If I hadn't gone out, I wouldn't have known about the TP, and since it may well rain tonight, It probably would have gotten ruined.
I actually got out the hand truck and moved it into the garage, and I didn't have a lot of trouble doing it, amazingly enough. I still have a ways to go, but I can see a definite improvement in my agility and strength. So it's working. I must continue doing my exercises, even though it takes a lot of time.
The weather wasn't very nice, but it wasn't quite as bad as they were predicting. The temperature went up to 54º in the middle of the night and fell off to 50º in the morning and 45º in the afternoon. It was very windy, in the 25-35 mph range, and the gusts hit a high of 38 mph, all from the north. It was mostly to partly cloudy all day, although there was some sunshine around the time I got up this morning, with nice whitecaps on the dark blue harbor. No way was I going to put out the bird feeders today. The poor little birdies probably think they'll never get any more from me.
I ate stuffed shells with marinara sauce for dinner, and Buster had to have some. He seemed to like the stuffing. They are good, and Schwan's marinara sauce is easy, but it's not the best I've ever eaten. It's an easy dinner.
So that was my day, and now it's time to totter up to the north end and crash. No bath tonight, since I don't have to go out until Friday. It's a cold, cloudy and windy night in the field, and the "S" word is still in the forecast.
October 19 I think it was around 10:30 when I got to bed last night, but I didn't have a very good night. I was up at least six times, dribbling off, and my hips were sore. I got up around 9:00 and knitted and petted a cat for a while before I exercised a little bit.
I had some problems with my surfing, including a power glitch that caused me to lose the sound until I not only shut everything down but power failed it. So I was late still surfing when it was time to leave, and I left a lot later than I should have. I forgot that it takes 50 minutes to get to Laurium, not 40.
I wasn't too late, though, and there was a great gathering of people around the scheduling computers, and I discovered that they had changed my PTA, which is fine. The girl I had is a nice one and she knows what she's doing. She could see that I'm making some progress. I can now sort of pull my hair out from under my collar on the right side, although I can't wash my neck or put up my hair yet. It will be a long haul.
There was hardly anybody on the road in either direction and I got home about 4:00. Almost all the leaves are down, and the drive is very dull, except that the tamaracks have all turned golden, and they are pretty. The rest of the woods are dark green and gray. I noticed that the guidance sticks are getting planted, so the road commission is getting ready for what is to come.
The weather was cool and windy. It was around 49º for most of the afternoon, with winds that got up over 20 mph. It was mostly cloudy, although there was a little sunshine while I was driving. It's supposed to rain for the next couple of days, and the "S" word has turned up in the forecast for Wednesday night. Oh, it's coming.
This evening, I had a steak for a change of pace, and it tasted good, although I'm going to have to have some pasta one of these days. Now I have a broiler pan to wash, because this one was too thick to pan broil. It was a good one. And I read for a while.
So that was another nothing day, and now it's time to totter up to the north end. I don't need to exercise, because I did enough of that this afternoon, but I do need a bath. It's a cool and cloudy night in the field.
October 18 It was 11:00 before I got to bed again. This has got to stop. I didn't sleep as well as I should have for some reason. My hip was sore again, for one thing, and I was creaky. I was awake around 3:00 and the moon was evidently behind the clouds, but when I woke up around 5:00, Jupiter was setting over the mountain, so it must have been a partly cloudy night. Not long before I woke up for good, I found myself having an interesting dream about a pizza with meatballs - big meatballs - on it. I don't know why that was, since I really wasn't all that hungry. And I don't even like meatballs, especially big ones, that much. Maybe something with tomato sauce is in order, now that I've finished all my Chinese.
I got up around 9:00 and I only knitted a little while before I did my exercises and got dressed. Buster seemed to want more of my breakfast than his own, but he is a funny little cat.
I was going to go to the CHIA meeting today, but nobody else from the advertising committee could go, so I didn't either. What I did do, finally, was to get the rest of the stuff out of the car. The cat food is all in the breezeway and the cooler is drying out in the garage. I checked under the seats, and evidently Shadow had eaten all the dog biscuits that spilled, but there was a lot of trash that missed my little trash container, so I cleaned that up.
Now the car looks more like a car than a pigpen. I know people who end up with all sorts of stuff in their cars, but I have never liked to do that. I do keep a crate in back, mostly for the mail, so it doesn't go all over the place, and I have been keeping the cooler there, too, just in case the fit should take me to stop at the grocery store, but otherwise, except for car-type stuff, I have never kept much there, and it annoys me to have all that stuff in it.
The weather was cool again, although it seems the temperature was just about the normal for this time of year. It was right around 47º all day, with a 20 mph wind from the north and partly cloudy skies. I reset the start and stop times for the camera again tonight. It's getting dark earlier and getting light later every day.
I fiddled around with the networking again last night after I published this, and I think I see how to get the laptop attached to the desktop. It seems I have to redefine networking and restart the computer every time I want to use it, which is a pain. I don't have to do that on the desktop, but like I said, there has been something weird about Windows passwords and things like that from the time I got the laptop. At this late date, I don't want to reinstall Windows from scratch, especially since I'm not sure if the update files are still available on the MS website. I'll cope, one way or another. It is nice to have an easy way of passing files back and forth, if I need to do it. Thanks, Rick, for getting me thinking about that again.
Tonight, I read for a while and finished the story from the white binder. I still like that one. And I still find typos every time I read it.
Now it's time to totter up to the north end and try to get to bed a bit earlier than last night. It's a cool, partly cloudy night in the field and the gibbous moon is shining brightly in the south.
October 17 With one thing and another, it was 11:00 before I got to bed, and I didn't sleep very well for some reason. My left hip hurt no matter which side I was lying on, and that didn't help.
I woke up around 7:15, so I turned off the alarm and got up. I did my exercises and got dressed, although I was annoyed that I couldn't find the lapis necklace, so I wore my cloisonné beads instead. They are fun - I couldn't decide what color I liked best, so I got all the colors plus gold. It's actually a very useful necklace, since it goes with anything.
I was runny this morning, and I almost had an accident, but I managed to get to the powder room in time. I left a little before 9:30, and as usual it took me 50 minutes to get to Laurium. I got behind one slow guy on the covered road, but I passed him, and there wasn't any other traffic at all at that hour on a Sunday morning until I got to Allouez.
Church was good as usual, although we sang a couple of hymns where they trashed the words in the blue hymnal, and for no reason at all. Pastor Fundum preached another good sermon. I never get tired of hearing about Jesus. Mary Ann was there, and that was nice. She is all tied up in getting ready for the election, so I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks.
I got home around 12:30. I thought I might do something about the wash, but I was tired, so I did my surfing and after that was over, I read for a while and ate some more of my Chinese. I have one more meal. It has been so good!
The weather was cool and partly cloudy. The temperature actually fell slowly overnight, and for the afternoon it was steady at 48º. There was a brisk north wind in the 20-30 mph range. There were some clouds at sunset, but now the moon is shining brightly in the south windows.
I noticed that the sun is now setting over the Mountain Lodge, almost right under the hook for the tube feeder. The days are down to 10¾ hours, and the sun is setting before 7:00 and rising at nearly 8:15am. Pretty soon it will be dark almost all the time.
I thought the lapis necklaces might be in the studio, so I hunted up my little box of jewelry for sale, and there they were, along with the pearl and chip necklace. I will take them up to the north end, where they belong, since I don't intend to sell them. I guess I had them here because I was showing them to people, or something. Now that I have to dress up a bit more, I need them where I get dressed.
I began fooling around with home networking a few days ago, and this afternoon, I played with it some more. I can now access the laptop from the desktop and copy files back and forth, which is cool. However, a problem I've had with the laptop from the beginning has shown up again. There is some kind of problem with saving passwords other than from Internet Explorer. For example, I have never been able to get it to save the dialup logon password. It can't remember the way the networking is set up - or more accurately, it half remembers it, so that I have to set it up every time I want to use it, and it doesn't work the same way it does on the desktop. It doesn't surprise me a lot, since the laptop is 8 months older than the desktop, and evidently the differences in the versions of ME were never reconciled, even though I've tried hard to keep the laptop up to date (of course, it's too late now). It is sort of there sometimes, but sometimes it won't let me access the network, because It says I'm not logged in, but it will never give me the network login page. I have a program that shows all the saved passwords, and the network passwords are all there and correct, but there is something missing. It's frustrating, but at least I can use the desktop. So now getting things updated on the laptop will be easier - and by the next time I need to do that for real, I might even have new hardware. Anyway, it worked better than I thought it might. I'm sorry I didn't beat on it more when I first got the wireless router. It would have been an easier way to move my files back and forth.
The problem, as I recall, is that I did what they told me to do and it appeared not to work. And still, sometimes it seems to be there and sometimes it isn't. However ME is such a kludge, and the idea of networking home computers was so new when it came out, that I'm not surprised that it didn't work very well. Rick showed me that it works seamlessly in newer versions of Windows.
So that was my day, and at least I learned something. Now it's a clear, cool night in the field and it's time to toddle up to the north end and crash again.
October 16 I was in bed by 9:30 again last night, and I slept well until about 9:00 this morning. I think I'm catching up on my sleep. I petted the cat, who was very purry, and I did the heel on the purple sock, so I was late getting to the studio.
Buster not only likes eggs, he likes cream cheese. Strange little cat. I don't know whether it's that his tastes have changed, or he just found out how good people food is. When he was younger, people food in general didn't interest him at all.
The task of the day was wash, and the last load is in the dryer. Unfortunately, I have ironing to do. There were two shirts and a pair of slacks, all of which need pressing. That's something I haven't had to do for a good many years, but I can take my rolling stool into the laundry room and it will work out.
The weather was mostly sunny and cool. It got to 59º briefly around 1:00, but for most of the afternoon it was around 55º. There was a strong north wind, in the 15-30 mph range, which is one reason the bird feeders didn't get put out. It was pretty, and now the quarter moon is shining brightly in the south windows, quite a bit higher in the sky than it was last night.
So that was my day, and I don't have much else to report. It's a clear, cool and breezy night in the field.
October 15 Wow, I really crashed last night. I was in bed by 9:30 or so, I think, and the first time I woke up was almost 4:00. Of course, I had to pee, but mostly it was that I was stiff from lying in the same position. So I got on the other side and slept until 7:15. I could have gotten up, and Buster thought I might, but I decided not. It was 9:00 before I finally made it out of bed.
I don't exercise very much when I have a PT appointment, but I wanted to do some, because my back was very stiff. It helped.
I had a good breakfast and did my morning surfing, and I thought I started out with plenty of time, but there was a slow guy on the covered road who refused to pull over (if he knew I was there), and a bit further down, I came across a couple of excessively law abiding people who were doing exactly 55 mph. I got around them, too, but I was nearly late. Geez, I thought all those people were gone!
I met my new PT, and she is a nice person, evidently a new hire. She mostly let me do whatever I wanted to, but I did all my exercises and she introduced an Achilles tendon pull that I can do any time. I asked her about the wall crawl I used when I had my mastectomy, and she seemed to think that might help, too.
My trip home was much nicer. The only slow one I came across turned off at Allouez, and when I got behind a tourist on the covered road, he pulled off around Frimodig Park and let me and two motorcyclists by. I got back to Copper Harbor in time to go to the post office, where there wasn't much of interest, and I stopped at the store for a few things, like lettuce.
I was really tired when I got home, and I still am. I think it will take me a while to get back to normal, whatever that is. I had the rest of my soup and some chicken with peapods and mushrooms (on shrimp fried rice) for dinner. I left a lot of the broth for Buster, and while he turned up his nose at it at first, he came back later and ate it all up. Maybe it was too warm for him. I have a couple more meals, lo mein and more chicken, before I have to worry about cooking. This time I would like to use the regular rice they gave me. The last time, I didn't, and rice gets nasty when it starts to mold.
The weather was cool, or maybe downright cold. The high temperature was 51º, but there wasn't much wind. It was cloudy and dark in the morning, but it began to break up about the time I left, and there was a lot of sunshine and nearly clear skies by the time I got home.
Every time I have to leave here for any length of time, I come back being so grateful to call this place home. It certainly is where my heart is.
There is still some color right around here, with even some maples hanging on, but elsewhere, it's over except for the oaks, which are mostly brown. The trees are gray and bare, and it almost looks like November. It's been a pretty color season but it was early and it went fast.
When I came into the studio yesterday afternoon, it was hot in here, and when I looked at the thermostat, the display was blank. Oh, batteries. However, I didn't know how to get it off the wall, so I left it. I played with the one in the bathroom last night and found out how to get it apart - and the batteries are normal AA alkalines - so when I got home this afternoon, I got at the one in the studio. I don't know what the problem was last night, because today the display was working, except that it wasn't controlling the heat, and the "low battery" display was flashing. So I got it off the wall and replaced the batteries, and then, of course, I had to reprogram the entire thing, as well as moving the current time down by over 7 hours, one minute at a time. Geez, the least they could have done was allow you to change the hour and the minute separately! However, now it's working again, although it will take a while for the temperature to come down. I must look at my other thermostats and see if any of them are showing "low battery". Evidently when one loses its mind, it calls for lots of heat, rather than no heat. Doing that in the great room, for example, could waste a lot of gas.
So that was my day, and now I'm going to read a bit before I crash again. It's a clear, cold night in the field, and the quarter moon is shining in the south windows.
October 14 I made it. I'm home, and Buster is just as glad as I am.
I crashed last night. I was in bed before 9:30. Unfortunately, the phone rang at 10:15, and even though it didn't exactly wake me up, when I answered it, there was nobody there, and when I tried to play the message, it was 4 seconds of silence. There was another one this morning, but it didn't ring the phone. Anyway, that kept me from going right back to sleep. I was up around 3:00, and the next time I woke up was about 7:15.
I was hearing a strange noise I didn't recognize, almost like an animal, until I decided I might as well get up, and then I realized I had a couple next door. Oh. Remember, people, motel walls are not soundproof.
That was all right, since I had been in bed long enough. A nice side effect of the remodeling the motel is doing was that I got a free breakfast. It actually wasn't bad, either. Scrambled eggs in a steam table aren't the best, but it was all right.
I packed the car before I went to breakfast, and what with my exercises and all, it was about 8:45 when I started off. I decided to try to figure out an alternate route to get out of Grayling, which was the one I took when they were rebuilding the route through town, but I won't do it again. Going through town and taking North Down River Road is actually shorter than my alternate route. I would like to see a street map of Grayling.
Apparently the temperature went down to 28º overnight in Grayling, and there was a thick coat of frost on my windshield when I first went out, but fortunately, it was in the sun, and by the time I left, it had melted. Grayling seems to be another place that has a much more extreme climate than we do here, and they have had a lot of cold mornings lately. The lady at the desk (whom I've talked to before) agreed with me that we are going to have an early, snowy winter this year. We'll see how right we are.
The driving was easy today. There was very little traffic, except at the bridge, where it is down to one lane in each direction. There is so little traffic on the road that the backup, especially going south, was surprising.
It was sunny until around Newberry, when it clouded up more or less. After Marquette, there were a few spritzes of rain, and about the time I got on the covered road, it started to rain lightly, so it was raining when I got home. The temperature was mostly in the 50s, with a few 60s around Marquette. It got up to 55º for a while here.
I got here at about 4:20. I got the bags out of the car, but since there are only two files to copy over from the laptop, I haven't done that yet. I just downloaded the journal from the website - hey, FTP goes both ways. My clothes and train case are still outside the back door, but I will snag them on my way up to the north end. I don't think I'll be out of bed very long tonight.
Buster and I had the rest of my Pasta Orleans for dinner, and we both thought it was pretty great. Now he wants to sit on my lap again. He is really glad to see me. I brought in one of the scratching pads I brought for him, and he as already sat on it, although I don't know if he has scratched yet. Of course, it has catnip on it. So I guess he has accepted my offering. Jasmine has come out, but she is as skittish as usual.
I'm yawning. I should have had enough sleep last night, but of course all that driving is tiring, so I think I will make it an early night tonight.
I think it was a successful trip, but I'm very glad it's over with. Tomorrow I have a PT session, so I will have to go back down to Calumet.
Now it's a mostly cloudy night in the field, but the quarter moon is partly visible in the south windows. I'm glad I'm home.
October 13 I'm on my way home!
I got to bed around 10:30, but I had some trouble getting to sleep. My left leg was sore again, for some strange reason, and it wasn't until after I got up once that I was able to sleep. Then I woke up sometime later with the thought that it must be time to get up - and I discovered it was only about 3:30. That was nice, since I got to go back to sleep for quite a while. I was creaky all day, in spite of doing my exercises, but that was probably the weather.
I was up relatively early (for me) and I had time to do some of my morning surfing before I got the car packed up and got off to the dentist. That was bittersweet. I am really sorry to leave those people. They are very good dental professionals, and I'm not so sure about the ones in Houghton, but the logistics are just impossible, particularly now that the oncologist doesn't need to see me every six months. So, reluctantly, I took my leave. Sigh.
Then it was off to the pet supply store, where I did some real damage, but the guys will eat well for a long time. I certainly wish some Pet Supplies Plus franchisee would start a web store, because their prices and their selection, at least for cat food, are the best. There was an older man there who noticed that I was having trouble with cans falling on the floor, and he picked up a lot of them and helped me unload my cart. Pet owners, especially cat owners, are really nice.
The next stop was Fishbone's, where I had my usual, but since it was early, I didn't eat even half of it, so I will have a yummy dinner tomorrow. I almost had it tonight, but more about that later.
I left the restaurant around 12:40, which I thought was a bit early, but first, 9 Mile Road was closed going west, so after trying for a couple of minutes to go back to 8 Mile, I went out to 10 Mile instead. That is a really easy way to get onto I-696, but they were doing construction on it, too. Geez, do you have to close all your east-west roads at once?? St. Claire Shores is only marginally better at government than Grosse Pointe Woods - and that's pretty bad.
They have finished most of what they were doing on I-94, I-696 and the interchange, and it was nice. New asphalt is so nice to drive on!
The amount of traffic around in the middle of the day was amazing, but I made pretty good time until Flint. When I left St. Clair Shores, it was sunny, but as I went north, I could see some really dark clouds in the distance, and I finally caught up with them at Flint. Wow, what a deluge! It was raining so hard and there was so much water on the road that it was nearly impossible to see any cars in front of me. It occurred to me in passing that I have run into just that kind of rain on that stretch of road any number of times in the past. Anyway, it wasn't fun driving.
Fortunately, it let up a bit by the time I got to the weirdness around Saginaw. Evidently they are rebuilding I-675, which is the link through Saginaw. They have been doing it for several years now, and they are still at it. They had one lane marked "thru" that is the lane they carved out of I-75 south, and the "local" detour for I-675 north was the regular I-75 north. I don't like driving between two sets of concrete barricades, especially when it's raining so hard I can't see much.
Well I got through that, and then we had fog. It was nearly as hard to see as when it was raining. Geez, what next? Hail, sleet, snow and floods? However, I finally got past that by about Pinconning, and the rest of the trip was good, with not much traffic. I got to Grayling shortly before 4:00, I think.
However, my troubles weren't over. I usually stop at the gas station across from the motel, but this time, the card reader on the pump refused to read my card. So I had to go into the store to ask about it, then go back out and pump my gas and back in to pay. Geez! Besides, I apparently hit someplace letting out of work or something, and I had to wait in a long line. They had two checkers, but one of them was being held up by a woman who bought two cartons of cigarettes (!) and a whole raft of lottery tickets, then paid with a personal check - over $138! Geez!
When I finally got to the motel, there was a dumpster outside and I wondered if there had been a fire, but it turned out not to be that bad. Evidently the previous owners defaulted and new ownership took over in July. Getting the liquor license transferred is always a problem, and while they are waiting for it, they decided to renovate the dining room and bar and put in outside entrances, which makes sense. However, that means that the dining room isn't open for dinner. Fortunately, I wasn't very hungry. Oh, yes and there was a water leak this morning and I might or might not have water in my room.
That was nearly the end of it, though. I am on the south side of the building this time, and the wi-fi is working just great. The bathrooms on this side are smaller than on the other side, but that's not a problem. I was looking around and wondering if I wanted to eat something out of the cooler when I realized that there is now a microwave as well as a fridge in the room. Unfortunately, i don' t know how to open the microwave, but that's all right, since I decided not to eat anyway. All the amenities, for sure.
That was fine, and I had a nice JD, did my surfing and listened to the talking, and I was investigating the microwave - when I had an accident. Sigh. It was a messy one and everything I had on is now hung over the handle of the bathroom door. Fortunately, I always bring too many clothes, so I'm good, but still. I'd hoped not to have that happen.
I think this is about the worst problem I've had getting out of Detroit, but tomorrow I'll be home again.
I still haven't gotten used to this keyboard.
The weather, other than the rain, was all right. It was cool this morning, but it had gotten up into the mid 60s before I hit the rain, when the temperature dropped back to the mid 50s, which is where it still is here. It wasn't ever really clear, even though there was some sunshine in Detroit. In Copper Harbor, it was a gorgeous day, darn it. It was clear all day, and the temperature got up to 59º, and there was a brisk wind from the north. It's supposed to be cloudy tomorrow, which is good for driving, but not so pretty.
Well, that's about it. It's early, but I'm tired and I don't think I'll be up all that long. It's my last night of exile from the field, and tomorrow I'll be back home. At least it was a successful trip.
October 12 Well, there. Day one is over with and all is well.
Things got away from me last night, and I didn't get to bed until around 2:00 am so I only got about 6 hours' sleep. Ugh. I got up in time to do some of my daily surfing. I like the wi-fi here - it's faster than at home, and there are no hokey passwords or anything.
First it was off to see the oncologist, and Dr. Lehman was late as usual. I don't remember the last time - if ever - when I've seen him at my appointment time. Today it may have had something to do with getting the blood work done. I like to see him and cheer him up, which I seem to do. At least I'm one success story. I told him about my escapades since I saw him last, and he quite approved of my decision to get a family doctor locally. He also seemed to think the PT was a good idea, as well as the large amount of vitamin D I'm taking. And he said that as far as he's concerned, I don't need to see him for a year. Yee-hah!
I stopped at the bank and got some cash. While I wasn't quite out, it saves me a trip to Mohawk.
I got to the eye doctor very early, so I knitted on my purple sock, and I now have most of the leg done. They were late, too, but I think part of the reason was an elderly lady and her caregiver who were 15 minutes late for their appointment. I wasn't sure I was going to like the new doctor, because he started talking fast as soon as he got into the room, but I do. He explained some things about my cornea problem that I didn't know, and gave me some good advice about keeping my eyes well-lubricated, which I will follow. It seems that probably some of the things I had attributed to cataracts are actually a result of the cornea problem, and they are all the symptoms of getting old. Not what I wanted to hear, but I figured as much. They can correct my vision somewhat, and I wish I could get some new glasses, but I can't afford them, and I can still see well enough to drive.
Doing the cataracts is a combination of needing them done and wanting them done, and I don't qualify yet, which I guess is good news. And the cornea problem will probably cause me some problems but I won't go blind from it.
Of course, I was nearly blind when I drove back to the motel, but there wasn't a lot of traffic.
Then Debbie came down and we had an early dinner at the Blue Pointe - sautéed lake perch, of course. That was good, and it was uncrowded enough that we got o talk for a long time afterward. She wasn't quite sure what I meant when I said I like to go there because it makes me feel so young, but once she saw the other diners, she understood. It's great to see her, and to see her so happy.
The weather was my kind of weather. The high was 59º, and it was sunny and not windy. I came home on Lakeshore Drive, and the lake was actually blue for once. The entire shore side seemed to be wall-to-wall Canada geese, which I found amusing. In Copper Harbor, it was about exactly the same, same temperature and nearly as clear.
I noticed when I looked at the camera this afternoon that there was something shading the upper right hand corner of the picture. It seemed to go away before sunset, so all I can figure is that it was a bug on the camera. I had been forgetting to mention that the cluster fly season has started. Anyway, I will check out the camera when I get home. It may just be dust, since I don't touch the thing much.
So that was my day and tomorrow I can start home. I'm not sure if I will have an internet connection tomorrow or not. I asked for a room on the other side of the building from where I've been staying (now that there is no smoking in any public facility, I can stay on that side), but we'll see if it makes any difference. So nobody panic if there is no journal tomorrow night. It only means I couldn't get connected.
Now it's time to crash, and in a couple of days I will be back home in the field.
October 11 First of all, I'm here, safe and sound and not happy.
After I uploaded this last night and moved it to the laptop, I started fiddling around, and all of a sudden the copy of the web on the desktop seemed to be behaving properly...and just now, I tried the same thing on the laptop and it didn't work, although it did last night. Huh? At least this version of FrontPage is junk...but I guess we knew that, didn't we?
I made it into bed by 10:30, and I tried not to take a sleeping pill, but after about half an hour, it seemed clear that wasn't going to work, so I took one anyway and off I went. However, when I woke up around 3:00, I was groggy and wobbly. I don't like those things. I must ask one of my doctors if there's anything else I might take on the rare occasions when I need something, that won't have as many side effects.
Oh, yes, there were nice stars at 3:00
I had set the alarm for 6:30, but I woke up at 6:00 and decided I'd better just get up then. Good thinking. I had to do my exercises, which take from 20 minutes to half an hour, and I had just finished washing my face when Ron called. That was good - I wanted to touch base with him before I left. However, we always talk a while when we do hook up.
Anyway, with all that I had to do, it was 8:45 before I left. It was an easy trip, and I wasn't to tired when I got here, although I am now. The color has moved into the middle of the lower peninsula. The trees in all the UP are nearly bare. There wasn't much traffic anywhere, and there was hardly any construction except just the other side of the Zilwaukee Bridge. I have no clue what they're doing there, but they seem to have northbound traffic split into two pieces, one of which is using two lanes from the southbound side. Maybe I'll be able to see when I go north on Wednesday. I was having to pay too close attention to where I was going to study the other side.
I didn't think I left that early, but I got here before dark, and that was really nice. I think I got off the freeway at around 6:45, which means it took me almost exactly 10 hours. I also seemed to use a lot less gas than most times, which is odd but gratifying, since the price of gas is skyrocketing again. Even at the Indian reservation, it was $2.85, and it was $3.00 over most of the UP. Ouch.
The only other thing that was strange was my cell phone. I checked my voice mail as soon as I could get a signal, and there was a call from Debbie. So I tried to return it, and after two minutes, the call terminated and the phone said it had a low battery. That was odd in itself, because I haven't used it that much. So I turned it off and began to wonder how I was going to order my dinner. About 5 hours later, I turned it back on, and for heaven's sake, it said it had about a 60% charge on the battery. Huh? Anyway, there was some kind of weird call from the dentist, so I returned that, and then I had a 40% charge on the battery. That wasn't enough to talk to Debbie with, so I turned it off until it was time to call to order dinner, which went just fine, thank you.
I didn't call Debbie back until I got here, but then I was tethered to the electric cord, so my dinner was sort of lukewarm when I had it, and I think I probably used all my cell minutes for the month, but oh, well. It was god to talk to her. She has finally gotten out from under her ex, and she is a happy girl altogether.
What the problem with the cell phone is, I don't know, unless it's just that I hardly ever use it. It got a full charge in about 2 hours. Very strange.
Dinner was good, as usual, and I have enough for several days. Yum.
The weather was so-so. The temperature was in the middle 50s all over the UP and until I got about to West Branch, and it steadily rose after that. It was about 75º when I got here, and it was humid. The skies were mostly cloudy until about when the temperature started to rise, but it was an annoying kind of light - not quite bright enough for sunglasses but too bright without them. Every time I thought it was going to get dark, and I switched to my regular glasses, the sun would come out. Somewhere around Bay City or Saginaw it started to rain lightly, just enough to clean off my windshield. That didn't last long. Now it's 55º and cloudy here.
In Copper Harbor, it was apparently cloudy until around 10;30, then it cleared up until 1:30, after which it was partly to mostly cloudy again until sunset, when it cleared up again. According to the camera, there were some really neat cloud effects I wish I'd seen. The temperature only got to about 54º, and it has now dropped to 41º. I wish I was there. Sigh.
So now it is very late, and I have to bathe and do my exercises. It's a sad night in exile from the field.
October 10 Well, I got to bed by 10:30, but it was 11:30 before I got to sleep, and I didn't sleep particularly well. My left hip and knee were sore, and that made my entire leg ache. Finally, after I got up and moved around a bit, it calmed down enough so that I could get to sleep, but I was up several times. There were stars, and I was up around 5:00 to see Jupiter setting over the mountain.
I didn't have time to pet the cat much, but I did do my exercises. I was stiff this morning. I was still late leaving, but I got to Laurium by 10:15, which left me enough time to go to the bathroom before church. There was communion and the service was from the hymnal supplement. There were two hymns from the old hymnal - old hymns I love that we didn't sing at Christ the King - and two more that they didn't trash in the blue hymnal. So it was a very satisfying service.
I had to get gas, because I didn't think I could make it down to Baraga on what I had, and it turned out that I probably could have, because I got exactly 12 gallons and it filled up the tank. I will stop at Baraga anyway, for a pit stop, but I won't need much gas. I got home by 12:45.
I put everything off as long as I possibly could, so I won't be as early getting to bed tonight as I'd hoped. The food is mostly in the car, except for what I have to wait until tomorrow to add. The camera, the briefcase and my purse are packed, and all the files are copied hither and yon except for this one. I have a lot of trips to the car to make, and I still have to pack clothes and my train case. I'm tired and stiff. Bah!
Buster and I had chicken again tonight, but I didn't eat a lot of mine, so I will just take it with me tomorrow and eat it instead of sandwiches. He knows what's up, and he isn't a happy camper right now.
The weather was lovely - too nice to be indoors, actually. The temperature only got up to 57º, but there was very little wind, and there was not a cloud in the sky all day.
The color is just about gone around here, and the woods are turning their dull gray, which is how they will look for the next six months. As my dinner partner notice last night, it's amazing how much further one can see into the woods now.
That meant there weren't so many slow drivers today, which was nice. I had to pass two on the way home, and that was it. Nice. Going down, there was one guy pulling a camper that I had to follow out of the covered road, but then I got by him, too.
So that is all I have to report. They're playing The Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla now. They should postpone that until Thursday afternoon.
Now it's a cool, calm and clear night in the field, and I have work to do. Ugh.
October 9 It was after midnight when I got to bed again, and I did sleep. There were stars the one time I was up in the dark, and I got up around 9:30. I petted the cat and knitted on the purple sock for a while before I got dressed. When I got up, I was pretty stiff, but my exercises helped a lot.
I forgot to mention yesterday that while I was picking up the kitchen, I had occasion to put some things on shelves that were higher than I was able to reach easily a few weeks ago, and it was much easier this time. So it is working, even though I can't put up my hair yet. That made me rather cheerful.
I was doing my surfing when I got a phone call, and one of my efriends invited me to dinner at Harbor Haus - of course I said yes. He is a nice person, as is his mother, and we had a very pleasant dinner. We had had some conversation about some maps he showed me, and he was kind enough to give me a CD with them on. I really appreciate that! Somewhere, I have some old paper topographic maps of the end of Keweenaw that I got 40 years or so ago, but I don't know where they are. I know I saw them when I was packing, but I don't know what we did with them. These, which are machine readable, are much more useful.
Otherwise, I went to the post office, where there was a large bill I'd forgotten about. I spent the rest of the afternoon gathering up all the trash and taking it out to the garage. There was more than I thought, but all the trash containers are now empty and ready to be refilled, including the bag in the breezeway. The one that was there had been there so long (full) that the color bleached out of the side toward the sun. I mean, a long time.
I guess the floor won't get mopped, and the bathroom won't get cleaned, since I want to go to church tomorrow, and I have a lot to do without all that, including backing up my files and transferring them to the laptop, and packing the cooler and my clothes. I want to get to bed at a reasonable time tomorrow night (tonight, too), so that I can attempt to get an early start on Monday.
The weather was nice again. It was clear all day and a little cooler than yesterday, and there was a brisk wind from the south around noon. The high temperature was 59º. Around sunset, there were a few clouds out over the lake, but they seem to have gone away as it got dark.
I must say there are still a lot of people in town, and apparently there were a lot of people up on Brockway again. Gregg said there is some nice color down on M-26, which doesn't surprise me, since the shore changes last, and it's rather pretty around here, too.
So it's another calm, cool, clear night in the field, and I'm off to the north end.
October 8 I don't remember what I was doing, but it was after midnight before I got to bed last night. I did sleep. When I was up, there were stars, but I didn't get up the second time until after Jupiter had set. I got up around 9:30 again. I knitted on the shawl and petted a cat before I did my exercises. My back was very stiff when I got up, but my exercises limbered it up and I didn't have much trouble with it for the rest of the day.
That was good. I postponed it as long as I could, but I started on the kitchen about the time the talking started, and it looks much better. I still have trash and the floor to do, but the counters are all clean, except for a bunch of lids I had to wash. I don't know what my problem was, except that I hate housework, but it didn't take all that much time.
I did have to sit and rest several times, and I got all hot and so sweaty that my hair was dripping. No muscle aches, though, just tiredness. That bodes well. And now I know what to do when my back kinks up.
The weather was beautiful again. The temperature got up to 69º at about 11:00 this morning, then it started to slide down slowly, and it is now 50º. There was about a 15-20 mph wind out of the north until sunset, which has now gone away completely. There were no clouds.
I filled the birdseed pails yesterday and got them as far as the great room, but I never got the feeders out today, and I may just leave them in until I get back. I know I've left them out safely lately, but I still don't trust those bears!
I still have a number of things to do tomorrow, but having the kitchen almost done makes me feel much better. I do need to mop the floor, for sure, and there is a lot of trash to take out, but the worst part of it is over with.
Buster and I had chicken again tonight, but he wasn't as hungry as he was last night. There wasn't as much juice on the meat, either, and the breast meat was a bit dry.
So that was my day, and I accomplished something. Now it's a calm, clear night in the field and I don't like Bruckner enough to stay up to hear the end of the symphony, which is long, like all of his.
October 7 I think it was around midnight when I got to bed, and my leg was sore, so I didn't sleep all that well until after the first time I got up. That seemed to settle everything into place, and I did good.
I was up around 6:30 or so, in time to see Jupiter blazing in the west, and I got up around 9:30. I finished the Sockotta sock, so I can wear them next week. I also looked for the size 1 needle I seem to have lost, and the envelope for the size 2 I'm using for the purple sock, and I didn't find either of those either.
I managed to get most of my surfing done before I was off to my PT. I did rather well, I must say, for being tired, although my leg is sore again now. I really do think it's helping. I know when I got up this morning my back was stiff, and doing my arm exercises helped a lot. So now I have to do for myself until a week from tomorrow, but then I will get to meet my new PT. I am always a bit suspicious of those people, but everyone I've met so far is very nice and very solicitous.
My drives were rather frustrating. Going down, I got behind a guy who was going slow, but he pulled over. There was some sort of little sports car in front of me - I think it might have been a modified Mustang, because I saw "Roush" on a plate under the back bumper. He was a good driver, and he could take the curves even faster than I do, and I had an oops moment when I went into a curve a bit faster than I should have. Oops. Nothing happened except the adrenaline rush, but still. I should know better.
Coming home was horribly frustrating. There were a lot of slow cars around, and most of them would never consider pulling over. Coming through Kearsarge, I was the third car behind a guy who was going 35 mph max, mostly slower. I figure it must have been someone really old who shouldn't have been driving at all. And that's a problem up here. Everything is so far away that if you can't drive you are really, really stuck. Anyway, I encountered several other very slow people, and it took me just about an hour to get home. Fortunately, it was going home and not going down.
I did get home about the time the talking started, so that was good.
The weather was lovely again, and a bit warmer than yesterday. It got up to 64º during the day, and the temperature has now risen to 66º. There was a gusty northwest wind all day. It was perfectly clear all day - so much for the NWS forecast of "partly cloudy". I really wonder about those people.
The doctor's office called and I do not have C. diff anymore. Now the question is, what do I have? When I get back from Detroit I will have to call the guy in Marquette and try to decide what to do next. I know he will want to do a colonoscopy, which makes sense, but the logistics are very difficult, and I don't know if I'll be able to do it. Ron would help out during the summer, but I don't know if he will be able to during the school year, and I don't know anybody else to ask. So we'll see.
This evening, Buster and I had chicken again, and he had a large helping. He has been awfully hungry lately, which concerns me a bit. I do think I managed to fill him up, but it was hard. It is good chicken.
After the talking ended, I read for a while, and after all the talk about the election and how special interests are funding some candidates, all unregulated, it was nice to get back to my own little universe. I am getting very discouraged about our country.
So that was my day, and now it's time to totter up to the north end and crash. I don't think I have to exercise tonight. It's another clear, breezy night in the field.
October 6 It was about 11:30 when I got to bed last night, and although I did turn over, I think it was 6:30 before I woke up for the first time. That has to be a record. I was stiff when I woke up, but my exercises helped. I didn't get up until after 9:30, and I knitted on the sock, so I was late enough that I didn't get to do all my morning surfing...which I just remembered.
I was a little later leaving than I wanted to be, but I kept my appointment and my car is now all ready for the trip to Detroit. While that was happening, I almost finished the toe of the Sockotta sock. So I'll be able to wear them next week.
After that, I went off to Pat's and did my food shopping. I was originally going to wait until tomorrow, but I decided that if I went today, I could get something easy to eat - so I picked up a rotisserie chicken, which both Buster and I enjoyed. That should last me until Sunday, probably. I also got some of the other essentials, although most of what I spent was on boos and wine. My grocery bills would go down extremely if I didn't drink. Sigh.
Going both ways, I encountered a slow driver on the covered road. Going down it was a Rug Doctor truck, and from the way the guy was driving, I guess he hadn't been driving that vehicle very long. It was very tall for its wheelbase, but he didn't need to go that slow - or he could have pulled over. About the time I passed him, there was a big truck and another guy, but the truck turned right and the other guy turned left, and I had clear sailing the rest of the way. It's 36 or so miles to Calumet, and it seems to take me about 50 minutes in good weather.
Coming back, I got about halfway up the covered road before I ran into the slow guy, and I don't know what his problem was. First he was going slow, then he speeded up to a reasonable pace, but once we got to Medora, he slowed down again, even when the road was relatively straight. Weird. I got home about 5:15.
I think my PT has helped already. I made it around Pat's without getting extremely sweaty or tired. I still have a long way to go, but I do see progress. After last weekend, I was wondering.
The weather was just glorious again. It was completely clear until just before sunset, and the temperature got up to 62º here, and a little warmer in town. There was quite a wind around noon, but it settled down to about 15 mph from the north for most of the afternoon. It was just lovely.
The color is definitely going in this area. Everything is turning brown, except for some of the oaks, which are very red this year. There are still some very nice shades of gold, but most of the reds have turned brown. It's still colorful, but across Medora and some other places, the dull gray-brown of winter is beginning to show in the tops of the trees.
So that was my day, and after I read my funnies, it will be off to the north end to try to sleep long and hard again. It's a clear, breezy night in the field.
October 5 Today would have been my father's 98th birthday. I'm sorry I never go to really know him. I know the people he worked with thought a lot of him.
It was 11:30 when I got to bed last night, but I did sleep well...another Tylenol 3 didn't hurt at all. I must not get into the habit of using those. I was up a couple of times in the night, of course. It was another very clear, starry night, and early this morning the teensy crescent moon was shining in the bathroom windows. I got up around 8:30, which was all right.
I even got to do most of my daily surfing before I left, with my planner, my camera and my samples. I was glad I got a relatively early start, because the hospital was slow, but I turned in my samples and got my blood drawn and I got to the PT place on time.
I had a new PTA today, and she is very nice, too. She said I should not do my leg exercises when I'm going to PT, just so they can try to figure out what's causing me pain. I could have told her I didn't do anything but what they told me, but oh, well. I won't mind not doing them in the morning, although I think I may keep doing the arm exercises.
I had to stop for gas, so it was a bit after 4:00 before I got home.
There was not a lot of traffic either going or coming, although there were a couple of road crews. I must say that the color has peaked, and it is now getting very brown and dark gold. It's still pretty, but not like it was last week. From the MODIS imaging, it appears that things are just beginning to change in the lower peninsula, so I may have a pretty trip next week.
The weather was lovely. it was clear and sunny all day long. The temperature here got to 57º, although it was around 63º in Calumet. There was a little wind between noon and 3:00, but then it went calm, which it still is. September was wet and cold, and it looks like October may be warm and dry. Weird.
This evening, I had a crazy thing happen to the computer. I suddenly lost half my keyboard, but it wasn't a physical half. About half the keys wouldn't work, but there was no pattern to it. I had to shut down and cold boot before it came back. Strange, but it indicates to me that the computer may be beginning to die. Oh dear. With all the bills I have this month, plus the trip to Detroit, I just don't need that.
So that was my day, and I'm going up to the north end early tonight, or I hope I will. I don't have to exercise any more, but I do have to bathe, because I have to go and get my car serviced tomorrow. These 80 mile trips are getting to me, but at least I'm getting in practice for my long drive to Detroit.
Now it's a clear, calm night in the field, and it's so pretty.
October 4 Things are much better today. I loaded the dishwasher before I went up to the north end, and I got to bed about 10:30 last night, and mostly I slept well, except for a while in the middle of the night. I thought I might get up early, but it was 9:30 before I woke up.
It was a beautifully clear night last night, the few times I was up. In fact, around 3:00, I looked out the bathroom window to see Cygnus flying toward the horizon, except that I couldn't see Albireo, which is the head of the swan or the bottom of the Northern Cross. However, I am quite sure I was looking at the Milky Way around Cygnus and on toward zenith, where Cassiopeia and Cepheus must have been. And that was through the screens. It was lovely.
I did my exercises and checked the weather, but then I had to go off to my massage. That helped a lot, and although I was a bit stiff after doing the rest of my surfing, I feel pretty good tonight. I was late for my massage, but that's all right. Very few people care much about time around here.
I want to mention the ambulance barn again. When the month started, we came up in second place, but during the day today I guess they recounted the votes, and we're now 11th. Please, please help us get our ambulance barn! There are several ways to vote, like Facebook and Twitter, and we've discovered that you don't have to log in with an actual, working email address - all it has to be is something that looks like an email address - you know, a@b.com or something like that. So please vote early and often!
http://www.refresheverything.com/copperharborambulancebarn?utm_source=em
I know the website is slower than molasses, but this is really important to all of us.
It was a beautiful day again. It got chilly overnight - it was 41º at 8:00 am, but when the sun got up, it warmed up fast, and the high temperature was 59º. There wasn't much wind for much of the day, although around 4:00 this afternoon, it got up to 15 mph from the north. There were almost no clouds all day long, and it looks to be another pristine night.
It is getting really pretty around here. The leaves are turning even close to the shore, although curiously, this year the birches are going to be last, instead of first like they sometimes are. The little maples out in my backyard are getting lovely, and even the short drive from town to here is lovely. I will try to take the camera tomorrow.
I stopped at the store on the way home and got my garbage bags and I started trying to do something about the mess in the office. I also began work on the mess in the kitchen, although that will take time. Unfortunately, I have to go to Calumet on Wednesday, too, to get my car serviced, so my afternoons will be taken up all week. Darn, but everything is something that has to be done. The kitchen is the most important, actually, and as long as I don't get all creaky again, I should be able to do what needs to be done. The one good thing about this trip to Detroit is that I usually manage to do some housecleaning before I leave. Not that it doesn't need it.
So that was my day, and I'm off to the north end to do my exercises and take my bath. Tomorrow I will have to leave relatively early, because I have to take my samples to the lab and also get some blood drawn (I ran across the order when I was cleaning out my planner a few days ago). It's a lovely clear night in the field.
October 3 Wow, what a horrible 24 hours I've had! I was late getting to bed, for starters, because I was creaky and I had to take a bath. So it was 12:30 when I turned out the light, and I made the mistake of not reading something before I went to bed. That was bad enough, but as soon as I laid down, realized that my left leg was in agony. It was a while before I realized that my problem was that I had three muscles in cramps. Two were on the inside of my thigh, but the really bad one was a long muscle that evidently parallels the shin bone on the left. I simply could not get to sleep with all that pain. I was up any number of times, and I spent some time massaging that muscle as well as I could, but I simply could not keep it from cramping.
So I didn't get any sleep at all. Along about 4:00 I decided that I wouldn't be going to church, and it was about the time I should have gotten up before I got any sleep at all. I think it was about 10:30 when I got up. When I was awake at 7:30, I was sure it was a good idea not go go anywhere. If church was a couple of miles away, like the ELCA chapel is, that would have been fine, but there was no way I could safely drive 80 miles round trip. I was just too tired. I still am. And there are still cramps in my legs, although now the pain is also in my hip joint. I never did get dressed today.
I am having a massage tomorrow, and I hope Johanna will be able to help me a bit.
I really feel cruddy, and my legs and hip are so sore that I have had a horrible time walking. Geez!
It was too bad I couldn't get out. It was a really beautiful day, although it was cold. The high temperature was 51º. There was very little wind, under 10 mph, which shifted around from the west to the north at about noon. The sky was almost completely clear all day long. It was so pretty! Early this morning, when I was up, Jupiter was shining brightly in the window, and the waning crescent moon was shining in the bathroom windows, although there must have been a cloud or two up there.
So I spent the afternoon reading and tottering around. Tonight, I am going to throw caution to the wind and take a NSAID. I'm not sure which one. If I have some naproxen I will take that, because it works best for me, or Advil if that's all I have. I need to sleep. I can't take NSAIDS all the time, unfortunately, because I have some small amount of kidney damage that I don't want to get worse, but the last time I took any was back in 2002, I think, when I had the blocked vein. Surely one every 8 years won't hurt me.
So that was my lousy day, and I am on my way up to the north end and hope that I can crash.
October 2 By the time I got to bed last night, I was feeling better, at least less creaky, but I crashed again. It was 11:30 before I got to bed, but I made up for it by not getting up until 10:00. I am much less creaky today, which is a real plus. I petted the cat and knitted, and I filled the pill dispenser, discovering when I did so that I had completely run out of Tylenol and forgot to get any when I went to Wal-Mart last, and I was almost out of vitamin D. The vitamin D came today, but I'm going to have to do something about the Tylenol.
Anyway, it was late when I got to the studio, and with one thing and another I didn't finish my surfing until late. When I tried to make reservations at Harbor Haus, they were full, so we had to eat at 5:00, which I guess was all right.
It was as good as usual, and we came back here and had dessert and talked some more. Rick had to show me some of the videos he had made with his cellphone, and they are impressive. talking (or texting) is the least thing cell phones do these days.
They had been up to the top of Brockway, and it was nearly wall-to-wall people this afternoon. There were so many cars parked that it was hard to see the views. It is really pretty this year, and the color is already getting pretty close to the shore. They had also been out to the lighthouse, and they took some really good videos of the wave action, although by the time they were there, it was dying down a lot.
It turned out to be a lovely afternoon, the NWS notwithstanding. It was cold - the high temperature was only 48º. Until about 1:00 it was very windy, with gusts up to 35 mph, but then the wind died down to between 10 mph and 15 mph for the afternoon. The NWS thought it was going to rain again, but instead, it cleared up almost completely for a while, and after that there was more sun than clouds. It was a really pretty afternoon.
I went to the post office, and my pills had come, so at least I have vitamin D. I went to the store, and I completely forgot the Tylenol and garbage bags, so I will have to stop tomorrow. I hope I can manage to get to church, but now that I know I can leave as late as 9:30 and still get there, it isn't quite so critical. Now, getting home will be another thing altogether, because it's supposed to be sunny and warmer tomorrow, and everybody who wasn't here today will want to be here tomorrow.
Buster was nice enough to come out and say hi to us tonight, and he and Rick got along really well...but then, Rick likes cats, and Buster likes attention. They were kind enough to bring in my birdseed and bring out the trash that was in the breezeway, and they saw Jasmine, who was standing in the hallway staring out the door when we came in. She also wafted through the great room later on when we were sitting there, but she didn't stay long. Even that is quite a concession from her.
So that was my nice day, and I need to be off to the north end soon. It's a clear, cold night in the field.
October 1 I got to bed before 11:00 last night, and I slept relatively well, although my left leg was sore and that was a problem. I think I got up around 9:30 again, and I knitted on the sock for a while. When I was up in the night, my legs were so stiff I could hardly move, and even doing my exercises didn't help a lot. I still had the sore muscle in my back, and while the exercises helped that a little, I am still awfully creaky.
As a result, I didn't do much. I am going to have to end that, because I have a little over a week before I leave for Detroit, and there are things I absolutely have to do before then.
Looking at the weather history, I see that one of my problems undoubtedly was that it has been very humid all day. It was also quite cool. The high temperature was 52º. After about noon, the wind started rising from the northeast, and it is now 21 mph with 27 mph gusts. The lake has been singing nicely.
I spent a little time this afternoon working on my planer and getting it ready for trip to Detroit and the end of the year, but I didn't get very far. I have a year calendar where I copy everything of interest, and that needed to be brought up to date.
My friends stopped by late this afternoon, and we had a nice chat before they went off to dinner. I was delighted to see that the NWS forecast was completely wrong, and not only was there no rain, it was partly cloudy to nearly clear all afternoon. They are getting to see the color at its best. Both of them have high-def video in their cell phones, and they got some really good pictures while driving up the covered road. I think I've said many times that only video would really show how beautiful it is, and not only at this time of year.
They noticed how warm the sun makes the house. It was so sunny this afternoon that I think it was probably over 75º in the great room and the studio. That's fine with me: conserve my gas for when I really need it.
I am not sure the heating system is completely fixed. At least the bathroom isn't acting right yet. But we'll see as it gets cooler.
I have been having a hard time all day realizing that it's Friday and not Saturday. I don't know what the problem is, but it's a bit confusing.
So now it is a dark and partly clear night in the field, and the lake is singing in the background. It's October, and the year is going fast.
Last updated 08/04/11 08:45 PM |